89 1. Trading nation, like ours. In such passages as this Addison betrays his Whig sympathies. The trading and moneyed classes, it will be remembered, were all in the Whig party; the landed aristocracy, in the Tory party. In Spectator, No. 21, referred to in the closing lines of this paper, - he dwells at length on the opportunities and advantages of the business life as compared with the overcrowded professions. IX. THE COVERLEY ANCESTRY Motto. "Wise, but not by rule."- Horace, Satires, II. ii. 3. 90. 19. Harry the Seventh. Henry VII, king of England, 1485-1509. The bodyguard of the sov 90: 19. Yeomen of the guard. ereign, numbering one hundred, who attend him at banquets and other state occasions. They are popularly called "beefeaters," and still wear the uniform here described. The wardens of the Tower of London wear a uniform differing but slightly from that of the yeomen of the guard. 90 28. The Tilt-yard occupied not only a part of the “ common street," now called Whitehall, but the greater part of the "parade ground" in St. James's Park, just behind the Horse Guards building. 91 14. The coffee-house. Jenny Man's coffee-house, one of the best known in London, stood on the spot now occupied by the paymaster general's office. 91 24. New-fashioned petticoat. The hooped petticoat has made its appearance, in various forms, at various times, throughout the history of British female attire. Sir Roger's grandmother apparently wore what was called the “wheel farthingale,” a drumshaped petticoat worn in the late sixteenth century. The form in vogue in Addison's time it came in about 1707 - was bell shaped, and of most liberal dimensions. For some admirable fool ing upon it, see Spectator, No. 127, and Tatler, No. 116, both by Addison. 92 4. White-pot. Made of cream, rice, sugar, and cinnamon, etc. It was a favourite Devonshire dish, as the famous "clotted cream " of Devon is now. 939. Sir Andrew Freeport has said. Sir Andrew characteristically stands up for the citizens and the moneyed interest. Later on he reminds Sir Roger of the obligation of his family to trade. See Spectator, No. 174, XXVII of this volume. 93 15. Turned my face. Spectator. 94: 20. Note the delicate courtesy of the The battle of Worcester, September 3, 1651, in which Cromwell defeated the Scots, supporters of Charles II. X. THE COVERLEY GHOST Motto. "All things are full of horror and affright, And dreadful e'en the silence of the night." 959. Psalms, cxlvii. 9. 96: 20. Mr. Locke, in his chapter. Essay on the Human Understanding, Bk. ii, Chap. xxxiii. 98: 12. The relations of particular persons who are now living. Addison's opinion as to the reality of ghosts and apparitions was shared by most people of his time, the thoughtful and educated as well as the ignorant. 98 17. Lucretius. A Roman poet of the century before Christ, whose one work, De Rerum Natura, is a philosophic poem, showing much subtlety of thought. The "notion" referred to in the text is found in the early part of the Fourth Book of the De Rerum Natura. 99 4. Josephus (37-95 A.D.). The Jewish historian. The passage is found in his Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. xvii, Chap. xiii. XI. SUNDAY WITH SIR ROGER Motto. "First honour the immortal gods, as it is commanded by law."- Pythagoras, Fragments. 101: 20. Instruct them rightly in the tunes of the Psalms. The service in the parish churches throughout England at this time was slovenly and spiritless. Samuel Wesley, father of John, who was then rector of the parish of Epworth, complains that his people prefer the "sorry Sternhold Psalms," have "a strange genius at understanding nonsense," and sing decently only “after it has cost a pretty deal to teach them." 103: 10. The clerk's place. In the English parishes the clerk is the layman who leads in reading the responses of the church service. 103 23. Tithe stealers. Tithes are a tax, estimated as a tenth (tithe) of the annual profits from land and stock, appropriated for the support of the clergy. The tithes in England are now commuted to rent charges. XII. SIR ROGER IN LOVE Motto. "(Her) features remain imprinted on (his) heart."— Virgil, Eneid, iv. 4. 105: I. The perverse widow. Ingenious commentators have thought to identify the lady with a certain Mrs. Catherine Bovey, to whom Steele dedicated the second volume of his Ladies Library;· but it seems altogether improbable that Steele and Addison would intend any of their characters as actual portraits. 108: 20. Such a desperate scholar that no country gentleman can approach her. It is probable that Sir Roger's estimate of the scholarship of country gentlemen in his time does them no great injustice. Macaulay says of the country squire at the end of the seventeenth century: "If he went to school and to college, he generally returned before he was twenty to the seclusion of the old hall, and then, unless his mind was very happily constituted by nature, soon forgot his academical pursuits in rural business and pleasures. His chief serious employment was the care of his property. His chief pleasures were commonly derived from field sports and from unrefined sensuality. His language and pronunciation were such as we should now expect to hear only from the most ignorant clowns.” — History of England, Chap. iii. ... 109 20. Sphinx. The sphinx was sent by Juno to devastate the country of the Thebans, until some one could answer her riddle, "What animal goes on four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?" Edipus gave the right answer, "Man," and so saved his countrymen. 110 3. Her tucker. The tucker was an edging of muslin or lace at the top of the dress, covering the neck and bosom. 110 8. Some tansy. A kind of pudding flavored with tansy. 110: 24. Dum tacet hanc loquitur. Even when silent he is speaking of her. 110 25. Epigram. Martial, Epigram, I. lxviii. The last two lines of the epigram are not quoted. XIII. HOW TO BEAR POVERTY Motto. "The shame of poverty and the fear of it." - Horace, Epistles, I. xviii. 24. III 16. The glass was taken . . . pretty plentifully. The Queen Anne men were not very temperate. Says Mr. Lecky: "The amount of hard drinking among the upper classes was still very great, and it is remarkable how many of the most conspicuous characters were addicted to it. Addison, the foremost moralist of his Oxford, whose private character was in most respects singularly high, is said to have come, not infrequently, drunk into the very presence of the Queen."- England in the Eighteenth Century, Chap. iii. time, was not free from it. Swift writes in his Journal to Stella, October 31, 1710: “I dined with Mr. Addison and Dick Stuart. They were both half fuddled; but not I." 113 13, 19. Laertes... Irus. Classical names were frequently taken for imaginary personages by the writers of this time. Laertes, in Homer's Odyssey, is the father of Ulysses, and Irus is a beggar. 113 16. Four shillings in the pound. Laertes evidently has to pay three hundred pounds a year interest on his mortgage of six thousand pounds, which is one fifth of his whole income, or "four shillings in the pound." 113 18. Easier in his own fortune. Because, of course, has to pay taxes on his whole estate. he 114 25. Mr. Cowley. Abraham Cowley (1618-1667), one of the most popular poets of the second third of the seventeenth century. The vogue of his poetry, however, rapidly declined; but his prose essays are still very pleasant reading. The essay which Steele seems to refer to in the latter part of this paragraph is that on Greatness, which closes with a translation of Horace's Ode, Odi profanum, Bk. iii. 1. 114: 28. The elegant author who published his works. Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, who issued a complete edition of Cowley's Poetical Works, prefaced with a Life, in 1680. Sprat's Life of Cowley is one of the most interesting pieces of biography of the seventeenth century. 115 5. Great vulgar. The phrase is from the second line of Cowley's translation of the Odi profanum of Horace, above mentioned: "Hence, ye profane! I hate ye all, But Steele's sentence is certainly obscure. 116: II. If e'er ambition did my fancy cheat, etc. These lines are Cowley's own, and are inserted in the essay on Great ness. |